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Anumita RoychowdhuryCentre for Science and Environment

Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastructure centreNew DelhiJuly 22, 2009

How walkable are our cities?

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Stunning data…..Stunning data…..

Source: Anon 2008, transport demand forecast study: study and development of an integrated cum multi modal public transport network for NCT of Delhi, RITES, MVA Asia Ltd, TERI, September

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(2007 - 2008)

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How many people walk in our cities?How many people walk in our cities?

Source: Anon 2008, transport demand forecast study: study and development of an integrated cum multi modal public transport network for NCT of Delhi, RITES, MVA Asia Ltd, TERI, September

Modal share of walking in key cities of India

Cities classified according to populationPercentage walking

< 5 lakh population (plain terrain) 34

< 5 lakh population (hill terrain) 57

5- 10 lakh poplutation 32

10-20 lakh population 24

20-40 lakh population 25

40-80 lakh population 25

> 80 lakh population 22

National 28

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Our cities were meant to be walkable….

Kolkata

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Urban form and sustainability

Dense growth helps……

Delhi Kolkata Bangalore Mumbai

-- High density, mixed land use, and narrow streets make our cities walkable-- In a typical city the core can just be 5 km across and easily walkable within a reasonable time. -- Studies show more than 40 to 50 per cent of the daily trips in many of our cities have distances less than 5 kilometers. -- These have enormous potential to convert to walking and non-motorised trips.

Source: Urban age

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Walking for work, education and services…..

Of all education trips – 58% walk tripsService and business trips – 31% walk trips (RITES 2001)

Walking and urban poor…….

About 60% of people live in low income localities. An earlier estimate shows 22% of people with less than Rs 2000/month income walk in Delhi. Moving slums out to

periphery had sharply reduced women employment as accessibility became a problem

Disability and walking……

Samarthyam survey: 58% of the disabled found steps, ramps, difficult to negotiate; 45% of elderly found steps and ramps daunting; 20%found uneven, narrow sidewalks difficult. Engineering guidelines for disables are not implemented

Urbanity and life styleCorelation between active transportation (walking and cycling) and obesity. China – 1.8kg weigh gain after and twice as likely to get obese for a Chinese who acquired a car. King County – people weigh 7 pounds less on an average in walkable

neighbourhoods

Who walks in our cities?

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Unacceptably high accident rates……..

Total number of road accidents are very high in Delhi – 2.5 times higher than that of Kolkata, 2.1 times higher than Chennai – personal vehicles cause most of these accidents….

Nearly half of fatal accidents in Delhi involve pedestrians

High risk group…

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We organised random survey to assess the state of walking facilities, walking environment, exposure to traffic and safety.

We walked through….-- The dedicated pedestrian path along the bus rapid transit corridor (Ambedkar Nagar to Chirag Delhi) -- Connuaght Place, the central business district -- Interstate Bus Terminus, an important interchange point -- All India Institute of Medical Sciences, a sensitive area -- Lajpat Nagar, prominent commercial area. -- Residential colonies of Patparganj, Chittaranjan Park and Alaknanda. -- Delhi Haat, a recreational site. -- Nehru Place another commercial area-- Seelampur Zaffrabad, and Govindpuri -- low income neighbourhoods

Volunteers participated in this survey….

We have also guaged Perception of pedestrians….

We took a walk……

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Pedestrian walkway in BRT corridor best amongst all ….

-Well designed and well surfaced. - Minimum width 1.5 metre -- goes upto 3.5 meter to 4 meters- Sidewalks easily negotiable by women, children and senior citizens - Disabled friendly- Relatively clean, well maintained, and continuous. - At-grade-crosswalk facilities with zebra crossings and pelican signals- Intersections are well designed and paved with speed tables as traffic calming - Crossings are easily accessible with kerbed ramps. - At grade crossings comfortable for old, disabled and visually impaired.

It still fell short of the best benchmark as problems with cross walk facilities have persisted – eg pelican signal malfuntioning; increased waiting time for pedestrians…..

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Residential colonies rank poor

Patparganj: Highly encroached, dirty and unsafePedestrians wriggle their way through the fast moving traffic. Zebra crossings have faded There are stretches without footpaths and that too adjacent to a school. The areas demarcated for the pedestrians are unpaved that force people to walk in conflict with the motorized traffic.

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Neighbourhoods of poor people Large captive pedestrian traffic but worst

infrastructure

Govindpuri and Zaffrabad: Traffic and people on collision course…..

- Discontinuous, poorly paved footpaths, and not easily accessible - Height and width of pavements violate norms - Poor signages, no pedestrian refuge islands -- crosswalk are ordeal - No kerbed ramps or blended crossings to access the crosswalk facilities - Exposure to traffic very high.

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Indian style socialism

Aurangzeb Road and Govindpuri

We have counted 3 persons per 10 minutes in Aurangzeb Road and 100 person per five minutes in Govindpuri

Urban planning does not keep people in focus

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We have seen improvement as well…..

Connaught Place Rebuilding and redesigning of pedestrian path has begun in some stretches…..

Janpath: congenial pedestrian ambience R K Marg: Walkable

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After thought

…….Connaught PlaceOlder pavements remodelled to make them pedestrian friendly

Retrofitting change … but problem persist

Zebra crossing hits roadblock

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Hospitals: Sensitive areaAIIMS

Design of sidewalks near AIIMS has improvedBut cloverleaf flyover has disrupted at-grade continuity, increased walking distance for the ailing visitors using public transportAt least in one direction use of subway is unavoidable But these are not handicap friendly and are without supportive tools Cloverleaf has completely severed neighbourhood, increased walking distance, disrupted direct shortest route

Before After

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Unusable infrastructure: Wasteful

Unusable infrastructure: WastefulGuidelines of Indian Road Congress are inadequate

Eg. In the absence of proper guidelines on height of pavements unacceptably high pavements without proper gradients are being made…..

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No one thinks of disable

Narrow uneven sidewalks, high kerbs, steps, make sidewalks unusable for people with impairments.

Only in the BRT corridor disable friendly features have been introduced.

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Walkways motorised…….

Cars taking over the legitimate space of walkers

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Jay walking….rampant

Seamless and signal free traffic is interrupting shortest direct route for pedestrians. This is inciting jay walking

Sai Chowk, Patparganj Scindia House, CP

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Highly encroached….

Mother dairy, Patparganj: Highly encroached, dirty and unsafe

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User survey brings out disenchantment..

Main complaints -- uneven surface, potholes, obstruction, urinals, height of the pavement …...

Pedestrians on BRT lane are happy with sidewalks.. have commented how their daily drudgery of walking has changed

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Pedestrian plan needs linkage with public transport plan…….

In ISBT we have seen direct walkway connection between bus station and metro station..Need detailed guidelines for siting of bus stations, interchange points…

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As skywalks and flyovers take over …….angry protests begin in our cities

-- Right To Walk campaigns in Hyderabad, Chennai. Angst against sky walks in Mumbai

Whither policy…..

Anger in cities

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Surprises……There are policies and laws…but don’t help

• National level…– National Urban transport policy: Advisory– JNNURM – CDPs can be effective instruments. – City level…many rules converge-- CMVR safety rules -- passive protection: but says motorist cannot enter

pedestrian way. Liable to penalty--Indian Penal Code (sec 283), sec 34 of Delhi Police Act -- obstruction in

public space punishable-- Urban street vendor policy, 2007, to protect livelihood rights – Guidelines

for proper vending zones. They are service providers on footpaths…-- Master Plan 2021 provides for pedestrian facilities-- Police Act provides for penalty for jaywalking-- Design and engineering guidelines (IRC) – outdated….-- Disabilities Act 1995 (Sec 44) – guidelines for disable

• But these rules don’t add up to allow stringent enforcement…….• People are not included in decision on pedestrian space..There is no

impact assessment of road infrastructure

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Fundamental concern -- Pedestrian space does not have legal protection

Yusuf Sarai near AIIMS, space usurped

Pedestrian space is chipped away arbitrarily -- without consulting people

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Learning from others

What other governments are doing…..

Setting legal framework: Laws to pedetrianise as well as to reduce traffic volumes. -- London, Road Traffic Reduction Act allows authorities to pedesrianise and reduce traffic levels or their rate of growth in a particular area to reduce congestion and improve air quality. -- San Francisco has enforced Better Street Policy. New York city is promoting pedestrian infrastructure. -- In Auckland The Land Transport (Road Users) Rule stops motorists from stopping, or parking on a footpath and give right of way to pedestrians etc.

Creating pedestrian space: Many US and European cities are creating walkable neighbourhoods and fully pedestrian spaces. Copenhagen has done extensive pedestrianisation. So has Kaufingerstrafe in Munich, Nanjing Road in Shanghai. Zurich and Oxford streets. Buenos Aires, Curitiba, Sai Paolo, Shanghai have begun to create car free shopping streets. Studies show pedestrianisation of shopping areas has positive effects on sales. European Charter for Pedestrian Rights

Traffic calming measures

Car free housing and car free centres

Smart growth approaches and home zones

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Learning from others…….

Other governments have found positive impact of pedestrianisation on local business:

New York: A 2006 survey found that most of the shoppers in the area were not drivers. Therefore, conversion of vehicle parking area to sidewalks

would increase the number of shoppers and the amount of business transactions in the area.

The majority of shopping dollars were brought by people traveling by mass transit and people traveling on foot and therefore wider sidewalks would invite more shoppers and that would mean more business.

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Our emerging policy opportunities…….

National level

JNNURM programmes can be leveraged to influence CDPs and mandate pedestrian infrastructure and link with public transport plan – This has made a difference in Nanded. Also CDPs of Delhi, Faridabad, Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, and Bangalore have proposed pedestrian schemes…

JNNURM support for BRT projects in cities is another opportunity

Climate change mitigation efforts will help--- -- Urban Habitat Mission of Ministry of Urban Development-- Government of India proposal to Global Environment Facility (GEF) for climate mitigation. Proposed projects include non-motorised transport and pedestrian facility for Hyderabad, Pune, Ajmer-Pushkar, Jalandhar, Thiruvananthapuram

In DelhiFraming of UTTIPEC guidelines for pedestrians in Delhi underway and expected to be issued before the Commonwealth Games….

Investment planned for Commonwealth Games

Reforms of guidelines for urban roads

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Way forward….

• Harmonise existing laws. Legislate right to walk: Should we have comprehensive road users act?

• Make pedestrian plans mandatory to infrastructure funding. Public transport plan needs linkage with pedestrian plan

• Reform and mandate guidelines for pedestrian infrastructure

• Urban local bodies must conduct walkability and safety audits

• Commonwealth Games projects to rebuild pedestrian space in Delhi

• Need zero tolerance policy for accidents

• Involve communities on decisions on use of road space

•Need pedestrian network plan: Pedestrian travel have unique aspects that influence network planning. Short trip lengths that evolve informally imply that the “corridor” concept is less significant for pedestrians than when planning for vehicles

• Adopt traffic volume reduction plan

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Right to walk is non negotiable……

Thank you